


Belladonna Kisses

by DesertLily



Series: Mechtober [7]
Category: Once Upon a Time (In Space) - The Mechanisms (Album), The Mechanisms (Band)
Genre: Bittersweet, Briar is in love with Cinders before they meet, Canon Compliant, Character Death, Clones, F/F, Hurt/Comfort, Immortal Briar Rose, Kinda, Lesbians living their best life in a cottage, Living Together, Love at First Sight, Mechtober, Mortal Cinders, Moving On, Old Age, Post-Canon, Recovery
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-21
Updated: 2020-10-21
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:20:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,687
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27140320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DesertLily/pseuds/DesertLily
Summary: Briar Rose knows she isn't Rose Red. That doesn't mean she won't do everything she can to earn Cinders' love and to make her feel loved.
Relationships: Briar Rose & The Mechanisms Ensemble, Briar Rose/Cinders (Once Upon A Time In Space), Cinders/Rose (Once Upon A Time In Space)
Series: Mechtober [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1950613
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	Belladonna Kisses

**Author's Note:**

  * For [marchioness_king](https://archiveofourown.org/users/marchioness_king/gifts).



> Based on an idea given to me by a friend! FOr the 'Once Upon A Time (In Space)' prompt for Mechtober

Briar Rose knew she wasn’t unique. She wasn’t even meant to exist - not really. At least, she wasn’t supposed to exist with any sort of agency or self-will. She was meant to be nothing more than a mindless soldier; a clone of Rose Red. Only...something had gone horribly wrong when they made her. She had been given Rose’s thoughts, her memories and most importantly; her free will. 

Perhaps she had acted rashly when she had first woken up in the lab surrounded by test tubes but on the other hand...Those scientists hadn’t looked at her like a person. They hadn’t even given her a name. She wasn’t a person to them. She was an ‘it’. Experiment One. The first clone! She was there to be poked and prodded and analysed. Until they poked and prodded one too many times. Something within her...snapped at that. She had memories that only made some sense - memories of her wife, her sister, her  _ life _ . Even if she knew deep down they weren’t really hers. But that was not enough to stop her rampage. 

Not a single soul on Briar was left alive. Not that they deserved to be. She had no thought about her actions. She had simply...acted. It was instinctive that she thought. Then the reinforcements came; the troops of Cole’s army. They tried to kill her again and again but she would not stay dead. They had perfected her too much. They had made the ultimate soldier in the worst. Instead, another use was found of her. The planetary defence grid. After all, if she couldn’t die then she would be perfect for powering it. 

She wasn’t entirely sure how long she stayed there for, trapped amongst the wires with only fleeting moments of consciousness. Of course, she thought about truly waking and escaping but she would never be able to do it alone. Until someone else saved her. In the back of her mind, she remembered stories about Prince Charmings saving the day, but Jonny d’Ville certainly wasn’t one. That was one of the first things she learnt about him; he was an absolute asshole. But he treated her with some hospitality - as did the rest of the crew of the Aurora. Though, it felt forced at first; as if they didn’t entirely have a choice. (She would later find out that the ship herself was bullying them all into ‘playing nice’). As the war raged on, she was content to stay amongst them. They let her stay out of the war - even gave her a name to go by. It came with an insistence that she stood proud of her past. After all, nothing wrong with killing a few fascist scientists. So she wore the name Briar Rose with pride. 

There was an odd sense of excitement as she followed the closest thing she had to friends into the throne room. The war was finally over. King Cole was dead and gone. Briar tried to ignore the many bodies on the floor that shared her face. The other clones with less sentience than her. The drones programmed to fight. Only, one of the bodies wasn’t a clone. Dressed in a wedding dress and cradled in the arms of a grieving woman lay the real Rose Red. It wasn’t just any woman. It was Cinders. The woman Rose had loved - the woman who Briar loved by default. How could she not? She was just another version of Rose, after all! A terribly improved version. 

The feeling of Cinders’ arms around her for the first time was unlike anything else in the world. It felt right and good and just...perfect. Everything about Cinders was perfect. The Mechanisms gave no goodbye when they left. Though, Briar hadn’t expected them to. They weren’t the type. They didn’t matter much anyways. She had Cinders and that was all that mattered! 

They were happy. 

At first. 

Hundreds of thousands were dead - including Rose’s sister Snow - but Briar and Cinders still remained. And really, what else mattered? It would be a long time before New Constantinople gained any of its former glory. Cinders had been fighting a war for thirty years. She would not wait around to deal with the aftermath. And where Cinders went, Briar Rose would blindly follow. The planet the two settled on was rural; it was peaceful. It held a beauty and quiet neither of them had ever truly known before. It was perfect. 

The two managed to get a cottage together with a bright garden Briar gladly tended to. Though, Cinders always had one rule when it came to flowers; no red roses. Briar complied, if only because she wanted to keep her wife (for they were now truly married) happy. It was rare that Cinders ever looked truly peaceful. Each night was full of screams and nightmares as Briar gently ran her hands through the woman’s hair, promising that she was okay. 

It became evident quickly that there were times Cinders couldn’t differentiate her from Rose so she tried to give her a way. She grew her hair long. It no longer remained the same short and shorn hair befitting of a soldier. For Briar wasn’t a soldier. There were no wars left for either of them to fight anymore. As it turned out braiding her wife’s hair back was something Cinders found soothing, and Briar was certainly never going to complain. She treasured each braid, showing it off to anyone who would look whenever she went back to the nearby village. 

But as the years went by, something began to grow obvious to Cinders. 

Briar Rose didn’t age.

Of course, Briar knew this already but it had never crossed her mind to mention it. She had never seen any real reason to. But it bothered Cinders. There was no hiding it. Briar’s face would never change. It would remain just as young and youthful as Rose’s had been upon her death. It would stop Cinders moving on entirely. But she did try. She tried to treat Briar as if she were someone knew. But there were still times when she referred to her as ‘her Rose’ or just...slipped up. Briar always assured it was okay; that she understood. Because she did. But that did not stop her crying in private, angry at herself for not being the woman Cinders missed so dearly. She tried to change; to become more like Rose but that only ever served to upset Cinders more. So she stopped. 

But with each passing day, Cinders seemed closer to at least some degree of peace. She smiled more - even laughed a few times. The two would go out together. Cinders had even attempted to teach her wife to dance, watching fondly at her many failed attempts. It was nice. It was domestic! It was...perfect. 

Until twenty five years down the line, Cinders got sick. 

Cinders had been sick before. Usually it was only the flu or the cough or something...she would come back from just fine! But as Briar tended to her wife, she knew this was worse. It had been days and her fever would not break. Her coughing barely ceased and food wouldn’t stay down. And when Briar fetched the town doctor, he just gave her a sad smile as he told her all she could do was make Cinders comfortable. 

So she did. 

It was morning when Cinders died. It was probably one of the most beautiful mornings Briar had ever seen. The garden was alive with flowers of every type and colour. The sky was a bright blue with its sun shining brightly. It was also the worst day of her existence. The fever had taken over Cinders entirely, leaving her delirious and confused. She barely recognised her wife anymore - though, that didn’t stop Briar from tending to her. 

A small moment of hope flashed through Briar as Cinders reached for her hand, clasping it tightly in her own. Had...Had she finally remembered? Maybe the worst was over! Maybe she did have a chance of getting better! All of that hope was crushed by a single word. “Rose…” Oh. Oh no. “Rosie...It’s you. It’s...It’s really you.” The smile on her face was more soft and serene than any she had ever held for Briar. “Never...Never thought I’d see you again.” 

Briar knew she could just correct Cinders; she could tell her the truth but she didn’t. If her wife was dying then she wanted her to die happy. Even if it did break her heart. “It’s me, Ella. I’m not leaving you.” Not even Briar had ever been permitted to call Cinders her true name. Only Rose had ever had that privilege. Only Rose ever would. “I’ll be here with you. Until the very end.” 

“It’s been so long, my love…” Cinders moved as if to sit up - as if to reach for her Rose but she never got the chance. Her body fell back onto the bed as she breathed her last breath. A smile of relief still remained on her face. Briar felt numb. 

She couldn’t bear to look at her wife’s corpse and instead turned her gaze out the window. One plant in particular caught her attention. Her belladonna plants were growing wildly. Briar couldn’t help the shaky laugh that escaped her. It almost felt fitting. Belladonna was a poison and Briar had certainly poisoned Cinders’ life. They had been happy together but she had tainted the memory of Rose Red. She had taken the chance of moving on from Cinders. She had denied the chance of peace in life. Though, she had finally found peace in her death. 

Briar buried her wife in their garden. The headstone was poorly made by her own hand. CInders deserved better and Briar wished she could have given her that. 

It wasn’t a happy ending. It wasn’t a sad ending either. It was simply...an ending. A neutral, anticlimactic end to a story of love, rebellion, and recovery. 

Briar Rose left the planet and never once looked back. 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and kudos are always aprpeciated! Or hmu @ desert-lily on tumblr


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